Just a year ago, Cam Hebig wasn’t sure if he’d ever play competitive hockey again, let alone play in the NHL.

Today, he’s back on track and a step closer to fulfilling that childhood dream.

Hebig — who missed all of last season with a bewildering upper-body injury — has signed an entry-level, three-year National Hockey League contract with the Edmonton Oilers.

“I worked so hard for it,” Hebig was saying after scoring two goals for the Saskatoon Blades in a 4-2 Western Hockey League victory over the Prince Albert Raiders on Wednesday night.

“It’s great. It’s very exciting for me and my family. To see it pay off is definitely a great feeling and it’s pretty cool to be signed by the Oilers.”

It’s been a longer road for Hebig than most. It’s virtually unheard of any hockey player signing an NHL contract after missing an entire season, yet the 20-year-old Saskatoon native persevered and never gave up.

The centre has bounced back to lead the Blades in scoring with 28 goals and 23 assists for 51 points in 34 games this season going into Thursday’s rematch with the Raiders. He also leads the Blades in faceoff-win percentage (just under 60 per cent), shots on goal (174), power play goals (10) and game-winners (3).

“It means a lot, after missing a year,” admits Hebig. “It was so tough but I worked so hard, persevered through that with a lot of sacrifices and hard work. To see that pay off, and to see I’ve reached one of my goals, it’s pretty awesome. It means a lot to me and my family. It’s great to be rewarded for that but there’s still lots to do and show them why they made that choice.”

Hebig has 85 goals and 101 assists for 186 points in 232 WHL games during the regular season. He had a breakout season with the Blades as an 18-year-old with 69 points in 59 games before injury derailed him.

After auditioning with the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins at age 19, Hebig spent the WHL season on the sidelines. He’d practice when he could with the Blades, participating in non-contact drills, but he was never quite ready to return to action until this season.

It appears it was well worth the wait.

Last season, Hebig spent extra time working with his Thunder Creek Player Management agent Blake Evans, himself a former professional hockey player.

“Blake was always encouraging,” says Hebig, who is also represented by TC’s Jason Davidson. “During that year, he never gave up on me and always cared for me and wanted to see me back out there. He helped me a lot and it’s definitely nice to be rewarded like that.”

“The coaches that I had, developing and learning from them, and then the Contacts (midget AAA) and Blades, who allowed me to play as a 16 year old and even today, still getting the chance to play, they’ve been great through the whole process and my parents (Diana and Trevor) have been there from the start,” Hebig points out. “They always seemed to know what the say at the right time when I was going through that tough time. They were there from the beginning.

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